Cordray-Sutton ticket seeks to 'chart new direction'

Wednesday

Jan 10, 2018 at 11:39 AMJan 10, 2018 at 1:38 PM

Marty Schladen The Columbus Dispatch @martyschladen

AKRON — The sprawling race for Ohio governor changed again Wednesday, with Democratic candidate Richard Cordray announcing that an opponent, former U.S. Rep. Betty Sutton, would end her campaign and become his running mate.

Cordray traveled to Democrat-rich Northeastern Ohio to make the announcement near Sutton's home in Copley.

"I am pleased to say that Betty Sutton and I have decided to team up to chart a new direction for our great state," Cordray said to a packed room of supporters. "We believe in a government that works not just for some Ohioans, but for all Ohioans."

For her part, Sutton said it wasn't a difficult decision to abandon her own campaign for governor to join Cordray's — even though she'd been working for months before Cordray declared his candidacy.

"It's not really about me and it's not really about Rich," she said. "I am proud to join forces to create an even stronger campaign."

Cordray and Sutton made their announcement in the Akron Family Restaurant in keeping with the "kitchen-table theme" of Cordray's candidacy. Serving until November as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Cordray is vowing to attack Ohioans' economic insecurity in such areas as health care and consumer debt.

Sutton, 54, has emphasized her working-class roots on the campaign trail. The daughter of a boilermaker and a library clerk, she worked her way through Kent State University and law school at the University of Akron. She served on Barberton City Council and in the Ohio House of Representatives before being elected to Congress in 2006. She lost her seat after congressional maps were redrawn in 2011 to GOP Rep. Jim Renacci of Wadsworth, who is running for governor himself this year.

As Sutton campaigned for governor, she slammed Ohio's Republican leaders over the rise of for-profit charter schools and what she has said is an inadequate response to the opioid crisis. She also has touted passage of the Obama-era "cash for clunkers" program and her appointment by Obama as administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp.

Cordray, 58, brings a national profile to the governor's race. Late last year, he stepped down as founding director of the consumer watchdog agency, which was created as part of the Dodd-Frank law passed in response to the 2008 market meltdown. During his tenure, the agency recovered $12 billion for consumers from big banks, payday lenders and other financial companies.

Cordray also has served as Ohio attorney general, treasurer and in the state House of Representatives, leaving that body just as Sutton was entering it. In announcing his candidacy last month, Cordray released a video featuring Obama and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and he hinted that national Democrats would support his bid.

On Wednesday, Cordray and Sutton said Republicans have controlled Ohio government for the past eight years, so the state's festering opioid crisis is their responsibility. Cordray said his administration would respond differently.

"It's going to require an all-hands-on-deck response — much like we responded to the foreclosure crisis a decade ago," he said.

The Republican Governors' Association lost no time Wednesday in attacking Ohio's newest Democratic team.

"By choosing Sutton as his running mate, Cordray is confirming that he thinks Washington D.C. bureaucrats with established records of mismanagement are the type of leaders that Ohio voters want," the group said in a statement. "But after spending most of the last decade pushing their job-killing agenda in Washington D.C., Cordray and Sutton have proven to Ohioans that they can’t be trusted to lead."

Running against Cordray and Sutton in the May 8 Democratic Primary are state Sen. Joe Schiavoni, who is running with State Board of Education member Stephanie Dodd, and Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O'Neill, who is running with Lorain school principal Chantelle Lewis. Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley and former Ohio Rep. Connie Pillich of Montgomery have not announced running mates.

Dennis Kucinich, a former presidential candidate, congressman and Cleveland mayor has designated a treasurer for a governor campaign, but not formally declared his candidacy.

Pillich had kind words Wednesday for Sutton, but she didn't mention Cordray.

"Congresswoman Betty Sutton is a trailblazer who has served as an example for women everywhere and as a fighter for working Ohioans," Pillich said in a statement. "I believe her candidacy was a positive force in this campaign and I am sorry that she feels the need to bow out of the race. I've enjoyed sharing the debate stage with her and wish Congresswoman Sutton nothing but the best."

The Schiavoni-Dodd team issued a statement implying that Cordray and Sutton don't have the fresh faces Ohioans are looking for.

"Democrats need a team that can excite young people, appeal to voters lost in 2016, and unite our party and our state moving forward. Ohio's future requires a new generation of leadership," it said.

The winner of the Democratic Primary will face the winner of a GOP contest that features Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State Jon Husted running as a team, Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor and Cincinnati-area businessman Nathan Estruth, and Renacci, who is running with Cincinnati City Council Member Amy Murray.